Shadow of Light
by DDLDarkHeartofWater
Summary: Marik has a dark heart, but now he finally has the chance to be normal as he trains at the Royal Academy and works for the Ishtar family - Malik, the crown prince of Emicuit to be exact. Well, as normal as he can when everyone in the castle other than said prince wishes he was dead. Bronzeshipping, Puppyshipping, Puzzleshipping and Tendershipping.


_DD: Okay, I'm ditching my old version of this and posting this version. Personally, I think it works better. Hope you enjoy :) I own nothing but the plot._

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A three-year-old boy sobbed, leaning against the wall behind him for support. He didn't remember much...

Only that it was his birthday. He didn't even know what 'birthday' meant. But he did know that he was three years now.

Somewhere nearby, a clock struck midnight, causing him to yelp in fear, hugging his body - which was covered by nothing but brown rags.

Just as he didn't know what 'birthday' meant, he also didn't know what 'midnight' meant, other than the fact that the clock chimed twelve times when it was midnight.

And that meant more pain.

Just as the last chime sounded, a door at the end of the hallway opened. Light spread from a candle in a hooded man's hand through the dungeon until he blew it out and moved towards the young boy's cell.

The three-year-old child whimpered in fear as the hooded man approached him. He pulled his legs to his chest and pressed his bruised, battered and bloody body against the wall as though it would stop the man from coming near him.

But it didn't. The hooded man slowly unlocked the door and yanked him out of the room that he had been in as silent tears streamed down the boy's face. He was shoved into a second room, this one more circular than the first.

There, more hooded people stepped out of the shadows as he landed hard on the ground. They raised their hands and chanted a single word as one. "_Capere._"

The boy glanced down, finding his body paralysed. Beneath him was a purple star, surrounded by five small dots, one at each sharp point. Surrounding the star were two circles, words the three-year-old didn't understand being between them.

The hooded people spoke again, anger and hatred filling their voices, as well as an emotion that the young boy was well accustomed to; fear.

They were afraid of him.

"_Catenam._"

Chains silver in colour shot out of the ground, ensnaring the three-year-old and pulling him down so that he was lying on his back, his platinum blonde hair splayed out on the stony floor beneath him.

"Brother..." He whispered, tears streaming down his tanned face as the hooded figures began chanting.

"_Summum imperium tenebris, et umbra perdere lucem adducere_," they chanted. "_Descendite, vilis inferni ad dominum tuum. Sanctam fratri non contaminant."_

"Sister!" The boy shrieked as he strained against the chains, burning green flames surrounding him.

"Faster, you fools!" The group's lone female shouted. The speed of the chant quickened, as did the rising amount of flames surrounding the child.

"I-i-it h-hurts..." The boy whimpered, unable to even scream, the severity of the pain was that bad. "M-m-make it s-st-stop..."

"You deserve it," was the only reply he got as the star beneath him began glowing, adding to his pain.

Just as he thought he was about to pass out from the pain, he uttered one last plead, "P-p-please, m-make i-it-"

"Make it stop!" A second voice bellowed, halting some of the chants, although a few kept going, keeping the flames around the young boy going.

The voice was almost identical to the young boy's, if a little harsher and deeper.

"Your highness, we-" The female began.

"I thought I ordered you to stop!" The voice growled. The flames dispersed and there were sounds of a struggle, but the young boy was exhausted, mentally and physically, too much so to raise his head to look. "Let me go!"

"Don't touch him!" The female shrieked, but the voice's owner ignored her.

"That was an order!"

The sounds of the struggle stopped and a pair of light lavender eyes so similar to the young boy's appeared over him as a glowing white hand was placed on his right temple. "_Absque._"

The chains holding him down and the purple star immediately disappeared as the person who had freed him pulled the young boy into a hug. "It's okay, Marik. I'm here... Malik's here..."

Marik... was that his name? He couldn't remember much other than pain and the longing for his mother.

He, Marik, allowed the other to hug him, feeling too weak to resist it and enjoying the comforting warmth that it provided.

Marik sobbed quietly in his rescuer's arms as he, Malik, moved his head to glare at the hooded people. "What did you do to him?"

"He deserved to die," the female spat, being the only one who hadn't dropped down onto one knee in a bow.

"Monsters," Malik growled, eyes narrowed into a death glare as his small hands rubbed Marik's back in comforting circles.

After a moment, the female sighed, dropping her head into a bow as she and the remaining hooded figures left the room, leaving the two alone.

Marik, having regained some of his energy, looked up to see Malik's tanned face smiling down at him. His lavender eyes were comforting and his platinum blonde hair - a shade lighter than Marik's - hung loose around his neck..

Noticing that Marik was looking at him, Malik's smile grew sympathetic. Multiple wounds littered his tanned face - which was dirty from who knows how many days in the dungeons - and his figure was thin from not enough food.

"It's okay, Marik." The three-year-old pulled Marik into a hug, the latter burying his head into Malik's chest. "I won't let anyone hurt you."

"P-p-prom-mise?" Marik hiccupped as Malik nodded, a sincere look in his eyes as he rested his chin on the taller boy's head.

"I promise."

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_DD: Okay, I know Marik was a bit OOC, but he's only three and believe me, it will change when he's older. Please review, and yes, I will include Tendershipping, Puppyshipping and Puzzleshipping later on. See you next time Killer Queens!_


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